Good news: I smell a skunk!

P. viscosum, ne of summit, 12,100’, June 23, 2021

Common & scientific name
Sky pilot, Polemonium viscosum

Family
Phlox, Polemoniaceae

Location
Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

If you’ve ever been scrambling along a rocky alpine ridge and swore you smelled a skunk, you were (sort of) correct!  Polemonium viscosum, a common but striking tundra flower, sometimes goes by the name “Skunkweed,” owing to the strong odor it sometimes puts out.  Like its faunal namesake, however, it is a beauty to behold, no matter the smell.  So hold your nose and thank your lucky stars for being where you are: in the magnificent alpine among the magnificent Sky pilot!

P. viscosum, Sayres Ridge, 13,300’, July 2, 2021

A rose is a rose is a . . .

Sibbaldia procumbens, June 14, 2021

Common & scientific name
Sibbaldia, Sibbaldia procumbens

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
At first glance Sibbaldia doesn’t look like it belongs in the Rose family: its three-part leaves are clover ( Pea)-like, and its tiny, greenish-yellow flowers hardly call to mind our showy Wild rose, Rosa woodsii.

Upon closer inspection, however, one finds they do indeed have 5 petals and 5 sepals (the green, leaf-like parts enclosing and protecting the bud/flower), and their leaves are reminiscent of Wild strawberries (in the Rose family). Indeed, upon further consideration, only Rosa woodsii REALLY looks like a rose proper—it’s a wonderfully variable family.

Worldly, indeed

Silene acaulis, June 13, 2021

S. acaulis, summit, June 23, 2021

S. acaulis, Sayres Ridge, 13,300’, July 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Moss campion, Silene acaulis

Family
Pink, Caryophyllaceae

Location
Above Midway, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This perennial favorite of the high alpine occurs in almost all arctic and alpine habitats throughout the northern hemisphere.  It reaches as far south as Arizona and as far north in Greenland well above the arctic circle, within twenty-five miles of the most northern growing of any plant.  And according to extensive studies done on this alpine jewel in the 1950s in Rocky Mountain National Park, its roots go down as far as six feet—hard to believe in the (very) Rocky Mountains!

S. acualis, Shimer-Difficult, 12,500’, 6.27.21

S. acaulis albino, Sayres Ridge, 13,300’, July 2, 2021

Tobacco's waning appeal

Valerian edulis, June 13, 2021

Common & scientific name
Edible valerian, Valeriana edulis

Family
Valerian, Valerianaceae

Location
Grottos, 9,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Valerian is famous in part for its roots, which when cooked are appealing in the way that tobacco is (it is also commonly known as “Tobacco root”): that is, very appealing to some, almost nauseating to others.   It’s really just as fun to look at.

Pygmy bitterroot (yep, that's my name, alright)

Lewisia pygmaea, June 13, 2021

Common & scientific name
Pygmy bitterroot, Lewisia pygmaea

Family
Purslane, Portulaceae

Location
Midway trail, 11,400

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The much tinier cousin of the state flower of Montana, the Bitterroot, this lavender lovely sits tight on the tundra among its long, fleshy leaves, protecting itself from the cold temps and desiccating winds.  Add it to your list of miniature alpine wonders!

L. pygmaea, ne of summit, 12,800’, June 23, 2021

A woolly one

Potentilla hippiana, June 8, 2021

Potentilla pulcherrima x. P. hippiana, front side of leaf, roadside 8,700’, June 22, 2021

Common & scientific name
Woolly cinquefoil, Potentilla hippiana

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location

Twin Lakes, 9,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known facts
Woolly cinquefoil can be distinguished from its many cousins by the white-woolly underside of its leaflets and greener but still hairy top side, and numerous, pinnate (ladder-like) leaflets, as shown at left.

As for the leaves at left and below, these likely belong to a cross between Woolly cinquefoil and Beautiful cinquefoil, P. pulcherrima, owing to the sub-digitate nature of its leaves (not obviously pinnate as with most Woollies, like the above-left), but not quite palmate/digitate (starting from the same central point, as in Beauties). Potentillas often present a good puzzle!

Backside of P. pulcherrima x P. hippiana

Social climber

Vicia americana, June 10, 2021

Common & scientific name
American vetch, Vicia americana

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
River valley, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Look for this small but vivid flower hiding among other shrubs and flowers—it is one of only a few members of the enormous Pea family that is a climbing vine, using tendrils to climb other plants and make its way to the sunlight.

Drilling down on reproduction

Geranium richardsonii, June 10, 2021

Common & scientific name
Richardson’s geranium, Geranium richardsonii

Family
Geranium, Geraniaceae

Location
River valley, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Distinguishable from its close relative, Geranium viscosissimum, by the sticky, red-ball-tipped (“glandular”) hairs on the stem below its flower, as opposed to the yellow-tipped hairs on G. viscosissimum.

Geraniums have evolved a wonderful method for successfully planting their own seeds.  Its seeds are attached to a reproductive part of the flower, the style, that coils like a spring.  Once it falls to the ground, it coils and uncoils in response to changes in atmospheric pressure, thereby drilling itself and its seeds into the ground.

Painting a pretty picture

Castilleja miniata, June 10, 2021

C. miniata, n.e. of summit, 11,900’, June 23, 2021

Common & scientific name
Red paintbrush, Castilleja miniata

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
River valley area, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Paintbrushes owe their lovely coloring not to their flowers, but to their bracts, specialized leaves which in this case are red (or orange, or deep red, or . . . ).  This species of paintbrush is thought to be the second most widely distributed paintbrush in the world.

C. miniata, n.e. of summit, 11,900’, June 23, 2021

C. miniata, Linkins Lake Trail, 11,800’, June 24, 2021

Little white berries enjoyed by no one

Symphoricarpos rotundifolius/oreophilus, June 8, 2021

S. rotundifolius in fruit, August 14, 2021

Common & scientific name
Roundleaf snowberry, Symphoricarpos rotundifolius/oreophilus

Family
Honeysuckle, Caprifoliaceae

Location
Difficult Campground, 8200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This common shrub, native to the western United States, produces a white berry apparently enjoyed by no one: birds, animals, or people. Its dainty pink and white flowers, though, deserve a close look!

Tiny, delicate, and a world-beater

Androsace septentrionalis, June 9, 2021

Common & scientific name
Pygmyflower rockjasmine, Androsace septentrionalis

Family
Primrose, Primulaceae

Location
Lower Lost Man, 10,500

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A highly variable but totally distinctive wildflower, of the most diminutive and delicate sort. Standing just a few inches above the ground, with impossibly tiny flowers, it grows throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, from sea level to the alpine.

A. septentrionalis, alpine version, June 16, 2021

"Ugly?" Not!

Ranunculus inamoenus, June 9, 2021

R. inamoenus, NY trail, 11,100’, June 27, 2021

Common & scientific name
Graceful buttercup, Ranunculus inamoenus

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Lower Lost Man, 10,500

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Wonderful that this flower’s common name, Graceful buttercup, has effectively, by popular vote, overruled its scientific name, which translates as “unattractive” or “ugly” buttercup.”  With its shiny, sunny flowers and interesting leaves—basal leaves rounded, stem leaves deeply cut—it definitely deserves better!

Scarious stuff

Cerastium strictum, June 8, 2020

C. strictum, Lackawanna ridge, 12,500’, June 18, 2021

Common & scientific name
Mouse-ear chickweed, Cerastium strictum

Family
Pink, Caryophyllaceae

Location
Mountain Boy basin, 11,250’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This cheery chickweed is abundant in meadows and forest openings from the montane to the alpine.  It can be distinguished from its close cousin, C. beeringianum, by its scarious-margined bracts; that is, the green, reduced leaves surrounding the bottom of C. strictum’s flower have clear, thin, plastic-looking margins.

Roadside champ

Heterotheca villosa, June 9, 2021

Common & scientific name
Hairy golden aster, Heterotheca villosa

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Above winter gate, 8,550’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

While all guide books describe this plant as “highly variable” (in size, leaf shape, hairiness, etc.), it is easily identifiable by its strongly pungent smell, location (dry, exposed places, often roadside), and its numerous yellow flowers atop a mound of grayish-green leaves. 

The other family-less false lily

Maienthemum stellatum, June 9, 2021

M. stellatum close-up, June 9, 2021

Common & scientific name
Starry false lily of the valley, Maianthemum stellatum

Family
??? (see below)

Location
Between the winter gate and Weller, 8,750’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Loves aspen groves above all, more delicate in its flower than its close relative, Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon’s seal, and searching for a loving home.  Different authorities place it in no less than four families or subfamilies: (1) Liliaceae, Lily, (2) Convallariaceae, Mayflower, (3) Asparagaceae, Asparagus, and (4) Ruscaceae, also Asparagus. Confused yet?  Give it ten years and the experts will land on one!